Exhale Slowly
by Ohstardustgirl
Summary: Cassian teaches Jyn the art of sniping.


There was no doubt in Cassian's mind that Jyn was a crack shot with a blaster, but sniping was another art form entirely. It wasn't that he wanted her to ever have to handle an assassination (if he could keep her from all the death in the galaxy, keep her hands clean and free of blood, he would), but it made sense to add to her skill set nonetheless. He wasn't foolish enough to believe that he could keep her from the horrors of war.

Which is why, during downtime on a forsaken, middle of nowhere desert planet as they waited for a contact to meet them, they found themselves lying side by side on their bellies staring into the crater-sized canyon below. The sky above was crystal blue, and the high, hot sun provided enough glare to make things a little more challenging. The red dust coated them and threatened to get in their eyes with each whisper of the light breeze.

"Breathe, Jyn." He murmured as he noted the tension in her shoulders, her pursed lips giving away her clenched jaw. Their agreed target was a human-sized stump of a plant; a thick purple trunk with nubs of branches sticking out, across the other side of the canyon and halfway down. It reminded Cassian enough of a previous assignment, not one he was proud of, but he didn't tell her that. He instead focused on her eagerness to learn, the brightness in her eyes in the sunlight, and the feel of her hip against his when she shifted.

Jyn let out a shaky exhale, not enough to melt the tension he could feel rolling through her, her grip a little too tight on the rifle as she stared down the scope. She squeezed the trigger, and he knew before he raised his quadnocs to look that her shot had missed. "Well, if that had been a person, you would have shot him in the foot at least."

He laughed when she swore in response. She pouted at him and rested her chin on her hand. She was beautiful when she was angry. "Ok, I take it back, this isn't as easy as you make it look."

Cassian knew better than to even hint at the phrase 'I told you so', especially when she was already frustrated. It's just pointing and shooting, isn't it? How is it any different from firing a blaster? He had rolled his eyes at that and begun the lesson.

If she could teach him to act first and think later, then he could teach her to slow down and be patient.

"Try again." He said. He nodded at the rifle and bit back a grin at her continued pout and dramatic sigh. Once she was settled with her eye to the scope, he shifted so that he was less alongside her and half hovering over her in a crouch. He ran his hand across the top of her shoulders, down her spine and back up again. "Relax," he whispered close enough to her ear that she must have been able to feel his breath on her cheek. He felt the tension in her body melt away under his hand as he repeated the motion slowly. Her body was warm and solid through the thin fabric of her shirt. "If you're tense, you'll tremble and lose your aim." This close, he heard her breath coming more evenly, could smell the scent of her hair mixed with the oil from his rifle. Cassian let his hand run up her spine once more and rested his hand at the back of her neck. He slowly, lightly ghosted his thumb across the light hairs at her nape. He felt her back rise with her inhale, and fall as she slowly, smoothly released her breath and squeezed the trigger.

She laughed as she checked through her scope, and he felt it vibrate through his hand still on the back of her neck. He couldn't help but smile at her joy. "Perfect." She said, beaming at him, face inches from his.

"Perfect," he agreed, without taking his eyes from hers to confirm her shot. The sunlight was on her face, her hair was loose in tendrils around her face, her smile was blinding. He tracked the movement as she took her bottom lip between her teeth, an endearing habit that had inspired more than one daydream in his head during their time together.

"So, Captain," she said, and her voice lilted with playfulness. "Can you make a shot like that while being distracted?"

"Depends on the distraction."

Challenge sparkled in her eyes, and she passed the rifle to him as he settled back into his spot beside her on his belly. He eyed the same target through his scope - the top of it was missing now, it really was a perfect shot - and waited for Jyn to pick her distraction.

She settled alongside him, half on her side, half leaning against him. Her chin rested on his shoulder, her front flush along his side. Her breath was hot against his neck, her chest pressed against his ribs. Cassian inhaled, and focused his sight. He tried very hard to ignore the heat in his cheeks, the heat of her body, and the fact that lying on his front had started to become more uncomfortable as she pressed her knee into his thigh. She mimicked his actions from earlier - her fingernails scratched the nape of his neck and carded through his hair, sending shivers up his spine. Where his touch had soothed her, hers was having the opposite effect on him and he was pretty sure she knew it from the shake of laughter against him. She waited until he inhaled deeply, knowing he would shoot on the exhale, to lean in close to his ear, and breathlessly whisper "Cassian".

He squeezed the trigger just as his name left her lips.

He made the shot, by some miracle. He had made tougher shots in the midst of war and chaos. This had taken a new kind of focus. He'd never had to make an accurate shot while his body reacted like a teenager to the teasing touch of a beautiful woman.

Jyn laughed, still pressed close to him, as he dropped his head in relief. "I guess I'm not distracting enough."

"Oh, you are," he said as he turned to her again, faces close. He had no doubt she felt how his heart pounded in his chest where they were joined, his pulse under her fingertips proof of the effect she had. "But you're welcome to keep trying."

Jyn Erso was never going to back down from a challenge, he knew, not when she was smiling so beautifully with her eyes full of fire. So she kept trying, until he finally missed his target.

Though by that point, he didn't care.


End file.
